'90 loyale turbo steam out the exhaust

[rain_man_rich]

Ok, here's the deal. Steam POURS out of the exhaust until it warms up. When I say POURS I mean it's so bad that the car behind me cant see. Once it's warmed up, the amount of steam reduces to almost nil. Each time I drive it, it uses about half a pint of coolant. I can't find any visible leaks but I can see wisps of steam coming up from underneath, kinda where the uppipe is located. There is no trace of water in the oil and no trace of oil in the water. I havent seen bubbles in the radiator or overflow tank.

 

After researching posts it appears to me that it may be one or two things..

 

1. Blown head gasket. Not sure which side

2. Cracked head at the exhaust port.

 

What else may be the cause? Intake gasket? etc.?

 

Thanks in advance for replys.

[MilesFox]

I would check intake gaskets, if coolant is being consumed.

 

IF the heads were cracked, coolant would pool up in the ehxhaust header, and then burn off. Intake gaskets are cheap enough to do first and rule that one out.

[rain_man_rich]

I forgot to ask in the original post. Is there a test for:

 

1. Head gasket

2. Cracked head

3. Intake gasket

4. ?

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

There is a Compression Test that could be Done on Each Cylinder.

[rain_man_rich]

Yah, I was thinking about a compression test. If the gasket leaks from a water jacket to the cylinder that it may show up with a compression test. I've heard about a crack in the turbo heads that lead directly to the exaust port. If the crack is behind the exhaust valve I probably shouldn't see any difference with a compression test, right? I wonder if anyone has a pic of that particular type of cracking in the head?

 

Any test regarding the intake gasket that anyone is aware of?

 

Also, what about a cooling system pressure test? I would think that if its a crack in the exhaust port and the exhaust valve were open it would show up. However, if the valve was closed it may not leak down. It would help if I could see where this head cracking is usually in issue on these turbo heads.

[john in KY]

Don't overlook the possibility there is a crack in the turbo.

[rain_man_rich]

It is my understanding that the turbo is oil cooled. Am in incorrect?

[GeneralDisorder]

The turbo is oil lubricated/cooled AND water cooled.

 

Compression test is basically useless for determining HG failure. The difference that might show up on a running engine with a small HG leak is so small that it could just as easily be cylinder/ring wear or valve seat leaks.

 

Do a hydrocarbon test of the coolant.

 

And don't dismiss the possibility of intake gasket leakage.

 

GD

[rain_man_rich]

ok, a hydrocarbon test seems easy and relatively inexpensive enough. So before I start tearing into the intake, turbo, and possibly yanking the engine for headwork, I want to track down availablity of parts. Will any year ea82t head work? Will any year ea82 turbo work? Also, I understand that felpro makes a permatorque head gasket set (AKA engine gasket set) which I would want to go with but for the intake gaskets I would want to use OEM. Correct? Lastly, are turbo head gaskets different than non-turbo?

[GeneralDisorder]

Any year heads will work but there are three generations of heads - each more robust than the previous generation (supposedly). The 90 should have either gen 2 or gen 3 heads from the factory. The 2nd gen will have EA82 with a line under it cast into the head while the 3rd gen will have the the same EA82 inside a rectangle not just underlined. They all can and do crack however so it's really more important to take care of engine management and keep it from getting hot in the first place.

 

Any year EA82 turbo will work yes. They are all the same.

 

You should use the Fel-Pro head gasket by itself ONLY. The rest of their "kit" is garbage. Order everything else from the dealer.

 

Turbo and non-turbo HG's are the same on the EA82's.

 

Surface the heads for sure, and you should consider resurfacing the block as well.

 

GD

[cal_look_zero]

Get ahold of B&M machine up on Highland. Mike (the owner I believe) may very well be as knowledgeable as GD (oh boy, what have I done by saying that?). I'm taking the Lego up there for a coolant sniff test at some point. He'll be able to do all the tests necessary to isolate what's wrong with the car.

 

I can tell you that what you describe is exactly what happened to my Loy when the HGs went. Fired up the engine and steam POURED out for about a minute, then it was fine right up until the HGs completely let go and I had chocolate milkshake pouring out from between the head and block.

[Meeky Moose]

hey rich, steam out the tailpipe would be either HG going, cracked head, or possible a turbo issue.. if the overflow tank is not filling up, a hydrocarbon test likely won't show much.

 

check the tiny coolant line thats under the intake too, its hard to see and if it gets a pinhole in it, it won't leak unless its revved up.

 

if ya need a hand with anything i can get away weekend evenings and mondays and fridays..

[rain_man_rich]

I want to use felpro pt head gaskets and genuine subaru gaskets for everything else on this head gasket job.

 

Anyone know where I can get a list of gaskets I'll be needing?

[Meeky Moose]

turbo gaskets, exhaust gaskets, intake gaskets, cam and crank seals, oil pump seals, rear main seal, head gasket set, valve cover gaskets. don't use the cork for the oil pan, use RTV ultra black or grey or Fujibond. new thermostat and gasket. new timing belt. that"s about it for gaskets..

 

you'll want to replace various hoses while you have it out too..

 

i would replace things like spark plugs, wires, cap rotor, etc. if they need it since its coming out anyways.. i rather do it all at once then have to work on it later.

[rain_man_rich]

Update:

 

Checked everything. It wasn't anything. LOL. So where was all that steam/white smoke coming from? My best guess is that it was some residual seafoam i put in the tank about 5-6 tanks ago. It was probably some build up somewhere that broke loose. Wierd thing was it never once smoked that bad when i first put in the seafoam.

 

Anyways, I called it a "dirty b****" put my foot into it for about 5 miles (yes top speed for 5 miles). When i was done, no more white smoke

[Ryuko91]

Should definitely find where your coolant is going if you're loosing a half a pint every time you drive it. +1 to small coolant line by the intake. I was loosing about a pint every 3000 miles, until a couple days ago when my heater hose started spewing all over the motor from a pinhole. I couldn't find the leak until I revved the motor up a little.

[rain_man_rich]

I was looking back through my old posts and found this one.  Like so many others I've come across, it did not contain the final solution so I thought I would go ahead and post it. 

 

So after about a year and a half of trying this and that I finally found the origin of my woes.  In the end it turned out to be fuel, NOT WATER, that would make the white smoke.  About 6 months ago I was battling an inconsistent idle and dying problem and found that the wiring harness for the fuel injectors was shorting out on the chassis by the battery case.    It was always strange to me that the wiring harness was just laying about down on the battery tray and when I picked it up I saw the bare wires.   I kind of just picked them up and zip tied them to an air conditioning line to keep them off the battery tray and black-taped the wires where they had rubbed through. 

 

I can't believe that Subaru would route wires like that so I;m thinking someone who owned the car before me did some alteration.  If possible, I'd like to see where the factory routing goes. A pic would be great! Anyways, the story has a happy ending in that it's been 6 months since anything has went wrong so we are doing good here.

 

P.S.

I found the coolant leak as being one which involved the turbo cooling line.

Edited November 24, 2013 by rain_man_rich

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

I'm glad that you found the Solution, also because you came back to post it here, and did not let this thread be another orphan, unfinished thread without solution.

 

Kind Regards.